The Modern Bar Cart Podcast (Eric Kozlik)

In this complex, yet surprisingly potent conversation with Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room in Kobe Japan, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How this husband and wife duo cultivated their passion for Tiki at one of America’s most celebrated tropical drinks bars, inspiring them to open their own tropical drinks concept in Japan, where they now live.

• What it means to be a “Tiki Snob” or purist, and why Tiki culture is constantly evolving like a living organism.

• The ins and outs of Tiki menu design, including cocktail origins and attributions, glassware and garnish art, and the ever-important indicator scale of drink potency.

• Some of the cultural and logistical differences and opportunities that distinguish opening a bar in Japan vs. here in the United States.

• And how to plan your next trip to the Japanese “Kansai” region and the city of Kobe, where the Kazan Room resides alongside pampered cows, roaring surf, and picturesque mountains.

• Along the way, we cover why it’s hard to quantify a “vibe,” tips for designing the perfect magical Aloha shirt, why three rums are sometimes better than one, and much, much more.

For those of you who would like to get updates on everything that’s going on at The Kazan Room, you can follow them on Instagram @thekazanroom and be sure to pull them up on your favorite maps app when you’re planning your visit.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this Bar Cart Foundations episode, we delve into the concept of "terroir," which refers to the effects of landscape and climate on the flavors of the wines and spirits we drink.

We examine the key aspects of terroir and then investigate whether this concept can extend to spirits and cocktails, as well as wine.

• How Lauren’s experience running events and activations for big spirits brands led her to join forces with her two business partners to solve one of the industry’s trickiest problems: what to drink when you’re not drinking.
• What it was like to take Spiritless from a basement experiment using PVC pipe and a popcorn machine to a full-fledged operation that uses real spirits to capture the barrel-aged essence of american whiskey.
• Then, of course, we taste Kentucky 74 - two versions of it! Lauren uses these two samples to walk me through the evolution of the product and explain how she and her team are zeroing in on the flavors that cocktail lovers really crave.

Along the way, we cover the mixological appeal of going ‘halfsies,” my controversial views on bourbon, what other spirits Spiritless has in the pipeline, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this stimulating still dialogue with Dr. Eric Stroud of Mohawk Spirits Distillery, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The differences between traditional and vacuum distillation - that is, distillation that takes place in the presence of high heat vs. distillation that takes place at room temperature but under high pressure.
• How Dr. Stroud secured a grant from the American Distilling Institute that allowed him to fabricate and test ancient still designs found in alchemical and medical texts from the Renaissance and Enlightenment.
• What it’s like to test glass stills with zig-zags and coils and chambers that seem to be in all the wrong places.
• The implications of Dr. Stroud’s compelling test results for the craft distilling community, as well as what new experiments are on the horizon.
• The virtues of working with native North American fruits and berries,
• What to drink with a late Renaissance alchemist,
• And much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, we investigate the intriguing and often-slandered character of Vodka. It's a clear spirit with a less-than-clear list of cocktail applications, and we intend to give it a fair shake.

Our list of guests this episode include:

• Jordan Wicker and Alex Luboff of the Speaking Easy Podcast
• RB Wolfensberger of Gray Wolf Craft Distilling
• Alla Polyakova, former USSR citizen and Russian culture expert

It's a strange and fascinating episode, and we hope it broadens your perspective on one of the world's great spirits.

During this episode, you’ll hear stories and flavor advice from the five bartenders who competed in this battle to raise money for their respective charities and nonprofits. And then at the end, we’ll give you a quick rundown of everything we’ve learned by observing, organizing, and even emceeing several cocktail competitions in the past few months.

In this episode, Eric interviews distiller Peter Ahlf of Mt. Defiance Cidery and Distillery.

Peter is a really fascinating guy with an eclectic professional background and a passion for making great spirits.

Some of the things we discuss in this episode include:

• How a NASA engineer-turned-carpenter applies his skills to distilling
• How to transform a gas station office into a steampunk tasting room
• The history and regulatory intricacies of misfit spirits like absinthe and cassis
• The process of developing flavor profiles in liqueurs and vermouths
• What to drink during the “Green Hour” in Paris
• And much, much more

You can, of course, visit the show notes page to grab the social media handles for Mt. Defiance Cidery & Distillery, and I really hope some of you get the chance to check out their awesome facilities in Middleburg sometime.

This egg-driven episode kind of fell into our lap when Dennis Sendros, a DC-based home bartender and podcast listener, reached out to the podcast with the subject line: Come Drink with Us!

Turns out, Dennis hosts a monthly gathering called Cocktological Evenings, where he selects a theme and creates an intimate, booze-driven gathering to explore cocktails through that particular lens. You’ll hear Dennis speak more about this in just a minute, but there are two important details I want to share with you:

First, if you want to check out some pictures of what he and his guests are up to, head over to Instagram and follow @cocktologicalevenings. Or visit cocktologicalevenings.com.

Second, if you’d like a special code to sign up for one of these events please email podcast@modernbarcart.com, and we’ll hook you up with one of the special signup codes that Dennis has reserved for exclusively for listeners of the Modern Bar Cart Podcast.

Some of the topics Dennis and I discuss in this episode include:

• The major egg-driven cocktails: Nogs, Flips, Fizzes, and Sours
• What properties yolks and whites lend to our favorite drinks
• Tips for hosting intimate cocktail gatherings like a pro
• The art of the dry shake and the reverse dry shake
• Ancient, egg-related creation myths
• How Walt Whitman likes his Whiskey Sours
• And much, much more

This is a great episode for the winter season, when we tend to enjoy darker, more textured cocktails, and when we tend to do more indoor hosting at home, both of which are great reasons to break out the egg nog or make a round of flips.

In this bitter and botanical deep dive with Keli Rivers and David T. Smith, we preview their new book, Negroni, and discuss the ins and outs of this classic equal-parts cocktail.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• The various origin stories of the Negroni - both the conventional story about count Camillo Negroni, and also some stunningly international accounts that cast doubt on when and where this cocktail was truly invented, and by whom.
• What it’s like to assemble a cocktail book during a pandemic, and why Negroni turned out to be a timely tool for home bartenders affected by lockdowns and a lack of bars.
• The three primary buckets that all negronis can fall into: perfect ratio through formulation, perfect ratio through balance, and perfect ratio out the window.
• Some of the more exotic or avant-garde Negroni recipes in the book, including tiki negronis, creamy negronis, and even a negroni served hot.
• We learn the story behind Keli’s tattoo, the importance of having a bottled negroni in the fridge at all times, the virtues of gin and cola, and much, much more.

In this post-distillery-tour interview with Bryan Davis of Lost Spirits Distillery, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Bryan’s thoughts on the impact his accelerated approach to barrel aging has had on the spirits industry at large.
• How Lost Spirits uses innovation as a way to contribute meaningfully to the global conversation that all distillers and consumers are currently engaged in.
• Thoughts on building the perfect distillery, and why the goal doesn’t need to be selling more and more cases of booze.
• The story of how Bryan learned to make his first (and last) cocktail from legendary New York Bartender Sasha Petrasky.
• Why the end of the 19th century was the peak of American and English culture, in terms of innovation.
• And much, much more.

This episode is all about the art and science of fat washed spirits and how to use them in cocktails.

• First, we walk you through what fat washing is, and how it’s different from other types of “washing” you can do with spirits.
• Next, we go over the steps you should take to effectively complete a cool DIY fat washing project at home, as well as the tools you’ll need.
• Then we identify some of the most commonly used fats and try to give you some pairing advice based on their various flavor profiles.
• And round out the episode with a rundown of some of the more creative or aspirational fat washed spirits and cocktails we’ve come across to give you some inspiration for your next experiment.

In this conversation with Brittany and Joe from Wight Tea Co., we cover a broad range of tea-related topics, including:

• How a sibling joke in the midst of a recession kicked off a decade-long collaboration to create delicious tea blends for home consumers
• The agricultural origins of tea, which share many things in common with the way we think about wines and spirits as agricultural and human-processed products.
• The difference between a tea, a tisane, and a chai
• Quality indicators to look for when selecting your next tea or matcha at the store
• How to use teas in cocktails, toddies, and punches with an eye toward pairing a blended herbal product with a distilled spirit
• And much, much more

In this interview with bartender, Instagram icon, and hospitality guru Paul MacDonald, some of the things we discuss include:

• How Paul approaches a hospitality situation with different types of customers. He walks us through some of the questions and decision paths that he follows to create an excellent cocktail experience that’s personalized to each customer who walks in the door.
• Which house-made ingredients are his go-to flavors for wowing guests and creating drinks that disrupt that traditional linear flavor experience we’ve come to expect. We’ll explain what we mean by a “linear” flavor experience during the interview.
• The way Paul develops new cocktails, and how he turned to the Fibonacci Sequence as a new and unexpected paradigm for creating drinks.
• A few tips for taking your cocktail instagram to the next level
• Deep thoughts on everything from Martinis to bar interior decorating
• And much, much more

This episode, we’re sharing a double feature of two episodes that came out WAY BACK in January of 2018 - that’s closing in on two years ago.

Part One of this feature is dedicated to our Iki Japanese bitters, and it includes a really cool phone interview with Jennifer Bloeser of Oregon Coast Wasabi. She is literally the farmer who tends these crazy plants, plucks em out of the dirt, and ships them on ice to our team so that we can create these super unique bitters. We also do a little romp through the culinary history and culture of Japan so that you can understand how this island nation and its cuisine has inspired us.

Part Two is focused on the cocktails (and other alcoholic libations) of the American Frontier. Of course, our Frontier Sarsaparilla Bitters are another really popular member of the Heritage Collection, so in addition to talking about ingredients that are native to North America, we also do a really cool march through the drinking history of our nation from its inception to roughly the year 1900. This sounds like a long time, but when you zoom out and consider the vast sweep of drinking history, it’s a really condensed period when a lot of really important changes happened. And they happened here in America, which makes the cocktail a uniquely American invention.

In this cross-over interview courtesy of the Drinks Adventures Podcast, James Atkinson interviews ESPN journalist Baxter Holmes about the NBA’s burgeoning wine obsession.

It’s a perfect little rabbit hole in which to think about the intersection of flavor, popular culture, and the network effect that can occur when a few influential people become evangelists and educators with the power to open the eyes (or in this case the palates) of a vast audience.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, we interview distiller Yianni Barakos of Mason Dixon Distillery in Gettysburg, PA. Some of the things that we discuss include:

• How a napkin sketch, a home distilling fire, and a serious accident led Yianni to pursue a career in distilling sooner than he had anticipated.
• What Mason Dixon Distillery is doing to introduce folks in central Pennsylvania to incredible craft spirits and a wide variety of bold flavors in their German beer hall-inspired pub.
• How Yianni was awarded a special lease to farm his grain on the Gettysburg National Military Park.
• A curated tasting of Mason Dixon’s excellent craft spirits and some notes on the distilling setup and barrel program used to create them.
• The differences between a hyper-specialized spirits program and a more wide-ranging approach to building your portfolio.
• And much, much more.

In Part I of this in-depth interview and Scotch tasting with Adam Safir of the DC Islay Scotch society, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Adam fell in love with Scotch, and what drove him to really dive deep into this particular region.
• All about whisky societies, including how to find a group to join in your area.
• How Scotch whiskies produced on Islay traditionally differ in style from those made in other famous regions like the Highlands, or Speyside, for example.
• Some important definitions for terms like “malting” and “peat,” and an examination of the role that terroir plays in peated malts.
• How to think about technical terms like Phenol Parts per Million (or PPM)
• A tasting of several impressive Islay Scotch expressions,
• And much, much more.

Welcome to another episode of Modern Bar Cart LIVE!

This time around, we were lucky enough to have special guest Erin Petrey of Bourbon & Banter join us in person for a tasting of four different bourbons. The goal here was to see how different styles and mash bills affect the flavor profiles of America’s spirit and learn to appreciate how different flavors can be mapped onto decisions made during the distilling and barrel aging process.

The bottles we taste in this stream are as follows (in case you want to taste along with us):

• Rebel Yell Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Elijah Craig Small Batch
• Four Roses Single Barrel
• Wild Turkey 17 year Bottled in Bond

Quick little bio for Erin:

Born and raised in the Bluegrass, Erin has always held an affinity for her home state’s signature spirit. Throughout her world travels (35 countries and counting!), Erin delights in spreading the gospel of bourbon across the globe, from Spain to Korea, and especially in her now home of Washington, DC. Erin spent her formative years studying international relations and finding the best libations the Nation’s Capital has to offer. Though a high rye bourbon will always be her favorite, she can never say no to a pretty bottle. Always up for an adventure, Erin also enjoys kayaking, science fiction, exceptional cocktails, and travelling everywhere possible.

This episode was brought to you by Near Country Provisions.

Shop their selection of locally sourced pork, beef, seafood, and (soon) chicken, and get your farm fresh meat delivered to your door every month. 

Enter the code BARCART at checkout to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef with your first order.

This episode is the second of a two-part interview with bartender, entrepreneur, and milk punch expert, Eamon Rockey. He’s the creator of Rockey’s Botanical Liqueur, and if you haven’t listened to part I of this episode, you’re missing out on a bunch of important background, as well as fun stuff like our featured cocktail, the Rockey’s Spritz.

If you did tune in last week, you know that we deviously left you on a cliffhanger, where Eamon was about to reveal his secret to making milk punch without the stress of filtering and straining until you’re blue in the face.

We’ll start off here by giving you the goods that we so cruelly dangled last time around, and we’ll continue with an awesome tasting and discussion centered around Eamon’s delicious, painstakingly formulated, and surprisingly affordable botanical liqueur.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this blockbuster Baijiu pairing and Chinese food smorgasbord, some of the topics we discuss with Brett Steigerwaldt and Derek Sandhaus include:

• The base grains, production methods, and flavor profiles of seven - count em - SEVEN different baijiu categories, including: rice aroma, light aroma, laobaigan, phoenix aroma, strong aroma, sauce aroma, and extra strong aroma.
• The relationship between baijiu and food, both at a basic level, and in the context of each different region and culinary tradition
• How different Baijiu styles “hack” the very foreign (to us) looking production method involving microbe-packed grain bricks called “Qu” and giant steamers to create flavors and aromas that are vastly different from one another.
• We also talk about what a phoenix smells like, how various traditional spicy and numbing ingredients affect how baijiu tastes, why food and drink exploration is an important act of cultural ambassadorship,
• And much, much more

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, we pull up a chair in The Petworth Citizen and Reading Room to interview bartender and Sherry buff Chantal Tseng.

Some of the topics we cover include:

• The popular types of sherry, and what sets them apart from one another
• The production methods and terroir unique to the sherry producing communities in southern Spain
• Sherry vocab terms en espanol, as well as a quick crash course in the shorthand that sherry producers and blenders write on their barrels
• The best Sherry cocktails to serve at your next gathering or cocktail party
• Why you might want to grab a drink with Edgar Allan Poe
• And much, much more.

In this Dry January conversation with Modern Bar Cart Co-Founder Ethan Hall, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What we’re excited about for 2020, and what Ethan is excited about being based out of DC for the first time in several years
• DC bar trends, as well as noteworthy closings and areas of the city we’re excited to explore again
• Nerdy cocktail and cooking toys we’ve picked up over the past month and how we’re planning to use them in the new year
• Ethan’s Cayenne-Hibiscus Kombucha recipe, which happens to be an excellent, low-sugar alcohol substitute that you can replicate at home
• Eric's dry January rules and regimens, as well as his thoughts on the term, “Sober-curious”
• Ethan’s answers to our new set of lightning round questions
• And much, much more

In this fascinating conversation with food scientist, distiller, and tamer of yeast, Faye Johnson, some of the topics we cover include:

• How Faye’s childhood exposure to fermented foods and her formal experience testing foods for harmful microorganisms led her to hop-scotch her way through the worlds of cake decorating, cheese making, brewing, and distilling.

• What it’s like to receive samples bearing live, native yeasts in the mail and then test those samples for viable applications in the brewing and distilling world as part of Bootleg Biology’s “Local Yeast Project.”

• How she used her expertise to save a Mid-West brewery from dreaded “flavor drift” by locating and scientifically isolating the precise yeast strain that made their product famous in the first place.

• And what it’s like to compete on a national stage as a contestant on a recent episode of Moonshiners Master Distiller.

• Along the way, we cover how to come to terms with any fears you might have about microorganisms, the ways in which microbial communities working together are like a crowd cheering at a concert, what to do if Faye calls you, “toffee honey biscuit,” and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Eric weighs in on the use of the word "mixologist" to describe someone who makes cocktails either professionally or as a hobby.

He does this by first taking a good, hard look at this word, “Mixologist,” both in terms of its historical usage and its various meanings and connotations. Then, he sizes it up compared to other words used to describe bartenders

Finally, he makes a case for why it’s a pretty good word - maybe not without fault - but certainly worth keeping around.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this spirited discussion with Ian Blessing, co-founder of All The Bitter, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Ian’s career as a sommelier at restaurants of all kinds (including the legendary French Laundry) led him to ponder and experiment with non-alcoholic spirits and cocktail ingredients.
• What happens when you decide to side-step ethanol as an extracting agent and instead harness the solvent powers of vegetable glycerine and vinegar in your bitters recipe.
• As we taste, we also cover why Ian and his wife and business partner Carly roll out a platoon of bittering agents and also spotlight a featured functional ingredient in each of their flavors, including Holy Basil, Lemon Balm, and Schisandra Berry.
• We also dig into the medicinal history of these kinds of products and the really specific opportunity they hold in the no-ABV cocktail space, which is to replace the somewhat “anesthetic” effect of alcohol with other functional, and felt health benefits that can still impact your mood and homeostatic state.
• Along the way, we cover the difference between adaptogens and nervines, our mutual love for shrink-banding thousands of bottles of bitters by hand, what numerical coincidence always makes Ian giggle, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Courtesy of the illustrious David T. Smith, author of The Gin Dictionary, Disco Cocktails, and other fine bibulous publications, I and a group of friends were treated to a rare Chartreuse tasting after we had wrapped up all of our work at the American Distilling Institute’s annual conference and trade show this past August in Baltimore, MD.

Our casual panel of tasters included:

• Eric Zandona, author of The Tequila Dictionary and The Bourbon Bible

• Sara Sergent, botanical savant and owner of Alpine Distilling in Park City, Utah

• Joe Barber of Stargazey Spirits and The Wrecking Coast Distillery in the UK

• And Reece Sims, creator of Flavour Camp

Here’s a (hopefully) somewhat complete list of the stuff we tasted, which may explain our silliness toward the end:

• The standard Green Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse - but these were both taken from the soleras or “infinity bottles” of David T. Smith, so they felt a bit more special

• Liqueur d’Elixir - A tribute to one of the early proto-variants of Green Chartreuse - this is essentially a half-step between the elixir vegetal and Green Chartreuse

• 9iere Centennaire - A tribute to the 900th anniversary of the founding of the Order of St. Bruno (also known as the Carthusians)

• Chartreuse Verte VEP (that’s the fancy green Chartreuse)

• A bottling by the French Order of master Sommeliers from 2018 - which is a small batch, custom variant of Yellow Chartreuse

• Tarragona, which is another Chartreuse recipe, celebrating either Tarragon (the herb) or the formulation that the monks made when they were in exile in Spain for a couple decades in the early 20th century

• Three variants of Chartreuse Genepy (the traditional, intense, and abrupt)

• And finally, a lovely Florio Amaro bottled in the 1970s, provided by yours truly.

Other topics we discuss include:

• The Carthusian monk documentary entitled Into Great Silence

• The mythical “beast of Gevaudan” that ravaged the French countryside once upon a time

• The taxonomy of the Artemisia botanical family

• A whole bunch of strong cocktail-related opinions about Chartreuse and genepy,

• And much, much more

Hello, and WELCOME to the Modern Bar Cart Podcast—the cocktail podcast where we demystify the tools and techniques that make great drinks.

I’m your host, Eric Kozlik, and I’m glad you’ve decided to join me for what may be one of the most crucial early episodes you’ll listen to on this podcast. In Episode 2, I broke down the essential cocktail-related tools you’ll need to build your home bar or bar cart, and if you recall, I used a computer analogy that compared hardware and software to cocktail tools (like shakers and bar spoons) and consumables (like spirits and mixers).

Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into our metaphorical cocktail software—the literal spirits and cocktail mixers you’ll need on hand if you want to start learning how to mix delicious drinks.

Because this episode follows more of an audio essay format, I’m going to include a complete transcript of this episode (including links) in the show notes at modernbarcart.com/podcast. This is going to be a fairly BRAND-DRIVEN episode (at least toward the end) where I make a TON of brand recommendations at different price points. So please do check out the show notes or email podcast@modernbarcart.com if you have any lingering questions.

In this episode, we take a comprehensive look at the New Orleans inspired Sazerac cocktail and delve deep into the institution that is Tales of the Cocktail.

In this mailbag episode, Eric answers questions from listeners concerning many bar-related topics, including:

• At-home, DIY bar cart builds
• The history of crystal spirits decanters and the woes of sourcing them affordably
• How to play around with smoked cocktails without a fancy smoking gun
• And much, much more.

In this crossover interview with Chris Sands of the Uncapped Podcast and Braeden Bumpers of McClintock Distilling, some of the things we discuss include:

• A little Modern Bar Cart company history, including how our bitters are made and why we’re still cranking out podcasts after two and a half years.
• A discussion of whiskey tasting notes, and the strange world of online spirits reviews
• How Braeden and I set up our upcoming Bar Room Blitz event, which will take place on Friday, December 13, the day after this episode airs. There may be a few extra tickets released the day of the event, so feel free to check out the show notes page for a link to Eventbrite.
• We also conduct a tasting of three special McClintock Distilling innovation series releases, including a wheat whiskey, a gin collaboration, and a hop infused American Single malt created in collaboration with the Uncapped Podcast.

In this episode, I chat with Charlie Berkinshaw, the founder of Element [Shrub], and we get into all the fascinating details of that product.

Charlie’s a good friend of mine. His photography and instagram skills are ON POINT, and I know you’re gonna enjoy this interview.

Find Element [Shrub] on Instagram (@elementshrub), Twitter (@elementshrub), and Facebook. You can also visit their website (elementshrub.com), and if you’d like to send Charlie an email, hit him up at charlie@elementshrub.com.

SHOW NOTES

What is a shrub?

According to Charlie, it’s a colonial way of preserving fruit using vinegar (and sugar). The nice thing about shrubs is that they provide two taste components found in many cocktails: sweetness and sourness (or acidity). Not only that, but they also yield the flavor of the fruits and spices found in the shrub.

Element [Shrub] Flavors

-Lemon Mint

-Chai Pear

-Honeydew Jalapeno

-Blueberry Rosemary

-Pineapple Turmeric

-Grapefruit Vanilla

-Blood Orange Saffron

-Cranberry Hibiscus

LIGHTNING ROUND QUESTIONS

What is Your Favorite Cocktail?

The Corpse Reviver #2

What is your Favorite Spirit?

Gin, even though I used to stay away from it. I like it because it’s sort of an open book.

Books

• The Flavor Thesaurus
• The Flavor Bible

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out as a home bartender?

Don’t be afraid of shrubs. People are scared of adding vinegar to their cocktails because they’re afraid it’s going to taste like salad dressing. But if you back up and think about what a shrub is, you realize that it’s just sweet and tangy, and those are two taste elements you’re going to be adding to most cocktails anyway. So don’t be afraid of Shrubs, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

In this conversation with drinks entrepreneur and educator Ryan Chetiyawardana, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The origin story of the name “Mr. Lyan” and how Ryan’s family relationships with movers and shakers in the design and fashion world influenced the wide scope and inclusive lens of his bar projects.
• Ryan’s framework for creativity and drink creation, which incorporates input at all levels of the bar team and thrives on the diversity of experience and passion of bar managers, bartenders, and even barbacks. 
• How the question of privilege in the cocktail world has led Ryan to explore everything from eliminating ice from his bar program, to using the “less desirable” cuts of citrus, to exploring the role of sea level rise in a recent bar menu.
• We also explore how he thinks about cocktail education, including his recent cocktail Masterclass with Lynette Marrero and the one key teaching about balance that might just cause you to rethink the way you approach drink design.
• Along the way, we gloss over a few other boring little details, like how to use moon rocks as gin botanicals, the decimal point that launched a thousand spinach enterprises, where to grab a drink with David Bowie in London, and much, much more. 

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Welcome back to another episode of the Modern Bar Cart Podcast. I’m your host, Eric Kozlik, and today, we’ve got a really excellent and timely episode for your listening enjoyment.

This is airing on August 24, 2017, and we are in the midst of Amaro Week. As some of you may know, an Amaro is a bitter, Italian-style liqueur, and this particular category has really been taking off in the last few years.

Thankfully, I’ve been able to enjoy this resurgence with the help of a really strong, local amaro company here in Washington, D.C. called Don Ciccio e Figli. They’ve got a really fantastic product line, and in this episode, I sit down with portfolio manager Jonathan Fasano, who schools me in the nuances of amari, aperitivi, and cordials.

Some of the topics we cover in this episode include:

• The difference between Amari, Aperitivi, and Cordials
• The history of herbs and spices in the Mediterranean
• How an earthquake in Italy eventually led to an American amaro company
• The best cocktails to make with your favorite bitter liqueurs
• And much, much more

I had a great time talking with Jonathan, who happens to be a good friend of mine, and I know you’re eager to listen and learn, so I’m gonna get out of the way here and let you enjoy this fascinating discussion with Jonathan Fasano of Don Ciccio e Figli.

In this lush, verdant conversation with herbalist Colleen O’Bryant of Wild Roots Apothecary, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Which herbs, flowers, and succulents are blooming right now and just begging to be harvested and enjoyed.
• The various ways to prepare your foraged or cultivated plants, whether that’s in a DIY bitters, a sweet and tangy Oxymel, or even a flavorful hydrosol.
• How to use different parts of plants for different applications, both as food and as nutritive medicine to help your body thrive.
• Ways to expand your plant horizons even when you’re living in a city, including urban gardening, composting, and even wormaculture.
• How to properly and effectively employ herbs and flowers as cocktail garnishes
• Where Colleen would stage her perfect outdoor cocktail setup
• And much, much more.

Colleen is like the Yoda of herbs. She knows the science, the physiology, and the technical scientific terms for everything, but instead of throwing around big words, she takes a very grounded, mindful approach to educating. “Ask the plant if it wants to be harvested,” she says. “Let it tell you how it wants to be used.”

She’s a wonderful advocate for the flavors that can be found all around us in the natural world, and we’ll have links to Colleen’s online shop and social media on the show notes page, so definitely head over there and stock up on all her wonderful bitters, syrups and teas to help you enjoy the emergence of spring all the more.

In this timely conversation with Caroline Rosen, executive director of the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The history of Tales of the Cocktail - from its humble origins as a walking tour soaked in history and booze, to its current status at the cutting edge of international spirits and cocktail conferences.
• How Tales of the Cocktail actually operates - and it's complicated. There’s educational seminars, pop-up events, bar takeovers, second line parades, chance celebrity encounters in hotel lobbies, and a whole lot more besides.
• What the Tales of the Cocktail has done to pivot in the wake of the COVID-19 Coronavirus - including all the details about their FREE digital education and networking opportunities that will be announced on August 31st.
• We also cover a bunch of other topics, including the yearly Oscars of the cocktail world - AKA the Spirited Awards, the uncommon economic impact the event has on the service industry sector of the Big Easy, the legendary mid-July aroma of Bourbon St.
• And much, much more

In this episode, we chat with Brian McGahey of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group (NRG) about how bars develop and price their cocktails.

Some of the specific topics Brian and I discuss in this interview include:

• What you’re actually paying for when you go out to a nice bar or restaurant
• How a bar prices out their cocktails and creates a balanced and profitable beverage program
• The ways in which a cocktail menu is like a resume for a bar, and how to read that resume to determine the potential quality of the drinks before ordering
• How tipping and certain cultural expectations about how bartenders and servers are paid has led to new legislation that’s threatening the service industry here in DC
• A few notes on the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris
• And much, much more.

This interview was recorded at a really cool spot called Rustico in Ballston, just across the river from DC, so please enjoy the audio verite that comes from recording on-location.

In this groundbreaking, down and dirty conversation with Gian Nelson of Jano Spirits, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Gian found his home in the creative and multidisciplinary workspace of the wine and spirits industry and why he’s selected Agave Americana as the canvas on which he expresses his passion.

• An overview of the different types of agave spirits currently being produced here in the US, specifically: the differences between using imported agave syrup vs. actual farmed or wild agaves.

• Why Mexico is becoming the “Old World” of Agave spirits production, and how American and other international producers are responding to a lack of shared knowledge across borders with characteristic punk rock innovation.

• What it would mean for a bartender or beverage program in Mexico to import American Agave spirits specifically to feature on their sipping or cocktail menu.

• And How many thousands of pounds of pinas it takes to make just ten cases of agave spirits.

• Along the way, we meditate on the mystical nature of inulin conversion, celebrate the influence of Chicano flavors and cultures, learn how to get your neighbor to let you dig up their agave plants, and much, much more.

Featured Cocktail: The Batanga

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Batanga. To make it, you’ll need:

• 2 ounces tequila (generally, a silver tequila is utilized, but you can feel free to substitute with any agave spirit of your choosing)

• 1/2 ounce lime juice

• 3 ounces Cola

• Salt for rimming the glass.

Begin by slicing a fresh lime, squeezing it for juice, and rubbing a spent half around the rim of a highball glass. Next, rim the glass with salt and fill it with ice. Since this is a built drink in the style of a Cuba Libre, all you need to do is add your agave spirit, lime juice, and cola to top (in that order), and, important to the ritual of this drink, stir it with the knife you used to cut the lime. Garnish simply with a lime wheel or a nice lime twist and enjoy.

Bar consultant and drink expert Philip Duff lends his multi-decade, international perspective to the debate on tipping trends, service fees, and legislative initiatives that affect tipped workers, bar owners, and restaurant patrons alike.

What’s shakin, cocktail fans?

Welcome to the official 100th episode of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

That’s right - 100 episodes. A HUGE milestone, to be sure! We are so incredibly grateful for all the great guests we’ve had on over the past two years, and I want to be the first to tell you that we’re just getting started.

Now that we’re officially in the triple digits, we thought it might be nice for us to take a little step back and look out at the “State of the Union,” so to speak, for spirits and cocktails. A lot of things can happen in two years, and I think it’s really valuable to take that reflection time to look at what’s happened and where things are headed.

This episode, Modern Bar Cart co-founder Ethan Hall takes the reins as the podcast host and grills Eric on the ins and outs of the cocktail world for your entertainment.

• A look back at two years of podcasting - plus recommendations for folks who might want to try their hand at recording and publishing audio for the world to enjoy.
• Category-by-category hot takes on the state of various spirits and where they’re headed.
• Thoughts on cocktail fads like clarified juices, tiki, amari, and speakeasies
• A bunch of fun new lightning round questions designed specifically for this interview
• Advice for young people trying to break into the cocktail scene at home or professionally
• My personal reflections on what Modern Bar Cart has become, and where it’s headed,
• And much, much more.

In this delicious, philosophical conversation with James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distilling and The Legendary Silkie Irish Whiskey, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The geography and culture of the Donegal region of Ireland, located in the far Northwest of the country, and how this elemental landscape inspires their mission and their products.
• Why James and his wife and distiller Moira consider themselves “scatterlings,” having come to Donegal after traveling and collecting flavors from around the world, and how this informs their approach to creating spirits with a sense of time and place.
• Then, of course, we explore the legend of the Silkie, a maritime yarn deposited in Ireland by the Vikings, and taste through the three primary expressions of the Legendary Silkie: the flagship product, the Dark Silkie, and the Midnight Silkie.

Along the way, we cover why Irish whiskey is beginning to return to its smoky roots, how building a blended whiskey can be like carving a block of marble, why Australians don’t understand what the world truly loves about them, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this wide-ranging conversation with Noah Rothbaum and David Wondrich, some of the topics we cover include:

• How Dave transitioned from English professor, to Esquire columnist, to full-fledged cocktail historian, and how that journey brought him to collaborate with Noah at The Daily Beast and on their current Oxford Companion project.
• The difference between writing about spirits and cocktails in the early 2000s vs. today, and how our relationship to “The Truth” (in quotes here) is different than it was during those early days of our great cocktail revival.
• Why long-form booze writing has (paradoxically) spawned a lot of attention and accolades in today’s age of listicles and tweet threads.
• And how conducting historical research is very similar to noodling for catfish.
• Along the way, we discuss why Beachbum Berry can’t stand the Pina Colada, where Dave hid that lump of Ambergris he’s been missing for the past several years, the merits of a good rum punch, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this fascinating deep dive on American Whiskey, some of the topics I discuss with author and spirits judge Eric Zandona include:

• A quick rundown of a few pivotal points in our country’s whiskey history, including “The Taft Decision” and the pioneering female distiller who made her mark on the sour mash process.
• How early geographical and climatic constraints set the stage for the traditional whiskey styles that would come to define local drinking cultures in various regions of the US.
• Then, we get regional. We talk about the differences between Pennsylvania-style and Maryland-style rye whiskey, we look at Texas’s unique barrel aging conditions, and we investigate the funky, new world Single Malts of the Pacific Northwest.
• We also talk about some emerging legislation at the state level that classifies certain geographically limited categories, like Kentucky Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey, and the new and intriguing Missouri Bourbon category.
• Along the way, we talk about why craft whiskey is so much better than it was five years ago, why more people should be talking about barrel entry proof, who serves the best Martini in London, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this tropical deep dive with home bar architect and Tiki expert Jayme Blaschke, creator of The Lagoon of Mystery and host of A Moment of Tiki, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How a brush with homelessness and an off-hand comment made while floating in a pool spawned a passion for tiki and led Jayme to build and cultivate his beautiful home tiki bar, The Lagoon of Mystery.
• A virtual walk-through of some of the building materials, design choices, and escapist landscaping that morphed Jayme’s Texas poolside patio into a transportive oasis that plays “Dive In” movies during the summer.
• Some thoughts on how to relate to Tiki culture as a white guy - which Jayme and I both are. We offer perspectives and concrete resources that will help you learn about colonialism, appropriation, and how to celebrate Tiki tastefully in the 21st century.
• A fun romp through the many genres of island-appropriate music that you can use to flesh-out your Tiki playlist - including exotica, calypso, bossa nova, and modern indigenous compositions that will whisk you away to a tropical landscape.
• Along the way, we discuss what kind of Tiki bar could boast a mechanical bull, how to avoid weevils in your bamboo, why NOT to drink green beer with J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, and much much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this first portion of a two-part interview with Eamon Rockey, creator of Rockey’s Botanical Liqueur, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Eamon’s childhood working in kitchens in Hattiesburg, Mississippi propelled him to the Culinary Institute of America and then into some of the hottest fine dining establishments in New York City.
• What it was like to take the cocktail program at the legendary 11 Madison Park and completely standardize its cocktail program by deconstructing ingredients and thinking like a chef.
• How to make a completely virgin spin on Milk punch that can be paired with any base spirit a guest might desire.
• Why milk punch can (and perhaps should more often) be approached as a cocktail technique or process, rather than a recipe unto itself
• What to say when Sasha Petraske of Milk & Honey asks you how you make simple syrup
• And much, much more

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, we give you a comprehensive breakdown on how to approach and prepare garnishes of the citrus variety and beyond.

What's shakin, cocktail fans? 

Welcome back to another episode of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This time around, we enjoy Part I of a Two-Part Episode featuring Bryan Davis of Lost Spirits Distillery in Los Angeles, CA.

Bryan takes us on a tour of his Wonka-esque distillery, where we meet his sidekick, TESSA, taste lots of rum, brandy, and whisky, and learn all about accelerated barrel aging, British naval rum trivia, and the battle between bacteria and yeast.

Welcome back to the Modern Bar Cart Podcast. I’m your host, Eric Kozlik, and today I’m comin atcha with another bar cart foundations episode, where we examine one of the most essential components of home bartending and look at it from a bunch of different angles, offering tips and bar hacks along the way.

Today, we’re featuring a substance that needs no introduction, that cool operator, that namesake of cubes, teas, and creams, the notorious H-2-O...that’s right. Today, we’re taking a look at ICE.

This is a great episode for new home bartenders, and I hope you'll check out the show notes on modernbarcart.com.

In this botanically diverse conversation with ethnobotanist and author Gary Nabhan, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The winding, intersectional, and truly inspiring story of Gary’s personal journey, from his family ties to bootlegging during Prohibition, to his days spent foraging and learning about plants in the Indiana Dunes, to his documentary work showcasing the pollinator relationship between bats and agave.

• How he teamed up with his co-author, David Pinera, a famed distributor and curator of agave spirits, to assemble his latest book detailing the ethnobotanical importance of plant/people relationships and the nuances of the mezcal and tequila industries.

• Some notes on the sacred nature of agaves, and how his background as an interfaith member of the Franciscan order has informed his mission to protect what is sacred

• Why mezcal can truly be described as “Biodiversity in a bottle,” plus some advice for navigating the almost dizzying array of distillates to choose from in today’s market.

• And of course, we speculate on what the future might hold for our beloved agave spirits, including why the Tequila industry might learn a thing or two from the parable of “The Prodigal Son.”

• Along the way, we cover the relationship between agave spirits and deforestation, explain why cactus and agave are truly the “bison” of the plant world, sing lavish praises for the elusive black sphinx date, and much, much more.

You can pick up your copy of Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals wherever books are sold.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this refreshing and perfectly balanced conversation with Maria Denton, Southeast Regional Manager for Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Maria used her career working for one of the world’s most prestigious spirits brands and managing one of Washington, DC’s busiest bar programs as a timely springboard into her current position with Lyre’s.
• What creating non-alcoholic spirits has in common with building the aroma profile of a perfume, and how that allows Lyre’s to create products with the world’s most popular cocktails squarely in the crosshairs.
• We also taste what (I assume) is the world’s first non-alcoholic Absinthe, and we pair it with All The Bitter’s New Orlean’s Style Bitters and Lyre’s American Malt no-ABV whiskey to create a fantastic Sazerac.
• Maria and I also get the chance to address some pointed listener questions about how to handle technical factors like temperature and dilution in no-ABV cocktails.
• Along the way, we find out which new spirits and mixers we can expect from Lyre’s in the near future, where the Champagne Queen stands on non-alcoholic Prosecco, where to grab a drink with your favorite impressionist painter, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

What’s shakin, cocktail fans?

Welcome to episode 122 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This is a very special episode. It’s kind of a behind the scenes look at what the research and development process actually entails for people in the cocktail world like myself. I’m joined by my good friend and cocktail colleague Charlie Berkinshaw of Element Shrub, and together we debrief a video series we spent about 12 hours over the course of two separate days filming.

In this series, we work our way through the four most common acids you’ll encounter in the cocktail world: citric, acetic, mallic, and lactic. Now, there’s a good chance you’ve heard some or all of those words in some context before, whether it’s on the ingredient panel of some food item or in a high school chemistry class. But, we’re examining these compounds through a strictly mixological lens so that you can understand some of the things going on below the surface in your favorite drinks.

In this flavorful conversation with distiller Matt Power of Tamworth Distilling, some of the topics we cover include:

• How the “House of Tamworth” series began as a research initiative designed to understand what the FDA considers “acceptable” flavoring ingredients, and snowballed into a passion project highlighting uncommon or underappreciated flavors and aromas.
• Why the “flavored whiskey” category has developed a slightly sub-par reputation, and what Matt and his team are doing to elevate this category.
• How Matt employs some serious technology - namely, a rotary evaporator - to isolate flavors and aromas from nature and infuse those compounds into their spirits in a very strategic way.
• We also sample the “Deerslayer” whiskey from the House of Tamworth collection, which was inspired partially by a german fermented sausage dish and partially by the aromas of hardwood smoke that you’ll smell wafting on the breeze during a New Hampshire winter.
• Along the way, we cover other important topics like maple syrup infused with dead people, the seductive stink of the Corpse Flower, strategies for combatting invasive green crabs, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Eric is joined by co-producer and travel correspondent, Adam Bauer to discuss the many signature Bloody Mary cocktails served at St. Regis Hotels all around the world. The drinks featured include:

• The 7452 Mary (St. Regis, Deer Park)
• The Downhill Snapper (St. Regis, Aspen)
• The Capitol Mary (St. Regis, Washington, DC)

This episode also touches on a few key tensions within the Bloody Mary world. For example: the tension between ritual and innovation and the impulse to reach for familiar flavors when you’re traveling away from home.

****

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this book review episode, we review Sother Teague's cocktail book, I'm Just Here for the Drinks.

In this eye-opening conversation with Bar Director Deke Dunne of Allegory here in Washington, DC, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Deke transitioned from a life in politics to a life behind bars, starting by working security at perhaps DC’s most successful pop-up EVER and then making the switch to bartending.
• What a surrealist Victorian novel by Lewis Carrol has to do with Ruby Bridges, a civil rights pioneer who was the first black child to desegregate a white school here in the US, and why the artwork at Allegory mixes those stories together and puts them on display.
• Of course, we talk cocktails and drink development, explaining how Deke and his team use flavors to tell stories. And this might sound cut-and-dry, but when we explain how rum, bourbon, oxidized sherry, banana liqueur, and a purple tuber all came to reside in a Kefir-finished milk punch, your mind will be blown.
• We also necessarily dig into the tricky balance that a bartender needs to walk when engaging with guests about historically charged and culturally sensitive subject matter. It’s possible to do it really well, but there’s also a lot of work that occurs behind the scenes to strike the right balance.

Along the way, we discuss the role of hospitality in a concept bar, why a Ramos Gin Fizz is like a baseball bat donut, what’s next for Deke and Allegory in 2022, and much, much more.

Rum.

It's an intriguing, tropical spirit with a dark and sordid history, and we had the happy privilege of digging into all the weird and wonderful details with my friends Ben Lyon and Jaime Windon of the Lyon Distilling Company, makers of all things yummy and rummy.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The differences between all those rum varieties you never knew existed
• How distillers make rum that tastes grassy, funky, and every flavor in between
• The surprising history of rum in the United States and abroad
• Classic Rum cocktails and spinoffs you should try at home
• Why Bananas belong in dunder pits
• And much, much more.

In this Mesquited, not Peated conversation with Whiskey Del Bac Head Distiller Mark Vierthaler, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What it takes for a spirit to be called an “American Single Malt Whiskey,” a term that is currently self-administered by the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, but that’s on track for nationwide federal approval and regulation by the TTB.
• A brief romp through some of the controversies still yet to be resolved regarding the mandatory or prohibited use of certain barrels and finishing techniques.
• The story of Whiskey Del Bac - from esoteric Southwest-inspired furniture, to calibrating against an iconic Scotch brand, to releasing some of the most innovative and distinct American Single Malt offerings on today’s market.
• Mark also walks us through some of the most important process-related decisions he and his team manage, including precise malt smoking, narrow cuts to accommodate small-format barrels, and the ever-crucial question of aging in the desert, where temperatures fluctuate aggressively.
• We wrap up by featuring the offerings in Whiskey Del Bac’s Global Cask Collection, including their Frontera, Normandy, and Ode to Islay annual bottlings.
• Along the way, we pen a love letter to the humble javelina, reenact one of the worst drams Eric ever ordered at a bar, try our hand at designing the ultimate distillery cat, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, we chat with author and spirits judge Eric Zandona about his new book, The Tequila Dictionary. 

Some of the subjects we discuss in this interview include:

• What it’s like to create a reference book (like a dictionary or encyclopedia) in the spirits world, and how The Tequila Dictionary can be used as a tool by agave enthusiasts.
• How tequila and mezcal are different. We give you the big-picture overview, and then look into some historical trends and trace these spirits back through the decades.
• Which label terms and quality indicators you can use to make informed tequila and mezcal purchases next time you take a trip to the liquor store.
• How technology and commercial interests have prompted a number of changes in the way agave spirits are manufactured and then consumed here in the U.S.
• What emerging trends we can expect from tequila, mezcal, and agave cocktails in the coming years.
• And much, much more.

You can learn more about Eric and his work by visiting ezdrinking.com, you can follow him @ezdrinking on Instagram and Twitter, and you can purchase your copy of The Tequila Dictionary wherever books are sold.

In this episode, five different home bartenders talk about cocktail ingredients that have tested them to their limits - their personal cocktail kryptonite, if you will.

Making cocktails isn't always easy, and sometimes our own flavor aversions and fears don't help. These stories give you a few different templates for conquering the ingredients that may be your cocktail kryptonite.

In this episode, we chat with Ethan Hall, Russell Garing, and Eric Holtzman of the Modern Bar Cart Team to learn about their first-time experiences at Tales of the Cocktail, a yearly hospitality industry summit centered around mixed drinks.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Tales of the Cocktail is structured, including seminars, tasting rooms, brand activations, and other local events
• The types of people who might be interested in attending this legendary hospitality industry summit
• Our favorite highlights from the first few days of the 2019 event, including luxury spirits, oysters, and even Champagne sabering
• An inside look at some of the educational seminars we attended
• And much, much more

This time around, we had the pleasure of speaking with Hakim Hamid, who’s the beverage director of a really excellent speakeasy-style cocktail bar called “Nocturne” here in DC. We spoke about a new, globe-trotting menu he’s recently developed, really taking our time to explore that process. So whether you’re contemplating creating a menu for an event you’re hosting at your home, or if you’re just curious to peer behind the curtain and develop a better understanding about what it takes to develop a spectacular menu, this episode is for you.

Some of the topics we cover in this really fun conversation include:

• How to think about the difference between bartenders, mixologists, and beverage directors, and how Hakim’s curiosity and insatiable imagination propelled him into the role of “Beverage Director” at Nocturne.
• The roles that bar design, vision, and leadership all play in the execution and ultimate success or failure of a cocktail menu.
• How Hakim started this menu with a single, crucial cocktail that then led him around the world and even permeated his dreams as the menu took shape.
• The relationship between food and drinks on a cocktail menu and how to go about pairing them with balance and delight.
• How to think about guests as renewable resources, capitalizing on relationships, rather than volume and high profit margins.
• Which member of the Expendables to grab a drink with in London
• And much, much more.

In this episode, we examine three iconic 20th century films through the lens of the cocktail with film buff Eric Holtzman. They are:

• Casablanca (French 75)
• The Big Lebowski (White Russian)
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Singamore Sling)

This is a great episode for cocktail nerds and film buffs alike!

 To me, hosting is the ultimate form of respect. One of the most selfless things you can do for your friends is to have a well organized, well run get-together. It’s a form of affection.

-Alex Luboff

I used to put a ton of pressure on myself to give people the best drink they’ve ever had...and then I remembered I’m not a professional.

-Jordan Wicker

In this episode, I sit down with a chat with a couple of my favorite cocktail personalities: Alex Luboff and Jordan Wicker of the Speaking Easy Podcast.

I was actually a guest on their show back in August of 2016, and they’ve been producing consistently great audio content on cocktails and home bartending for over a year and a half now. Since this is episode 1, we discuss the joy of being a home bartender, as well as some of the trials, tribulations, comedic mistakes, and life hacks that will help you decide if building your own home bar or bar cart is a project you’re interested in undertaking.

Some of the things we discuss include:

• How Jordan and Alex got into podcasting
• The values of a good home bartender
• Alex’s duck bar
• Cocktail rookie mistakes
• The “Zone of Proximal Drinking”
• Must-read cocktail books
• Where to grab a drink with George Washington
• And much, much more.

These fellas are a real pleasure to listen to, and you can find all the various ways to connect with them at the end of the episode...and of course, right here in the show notes.

Finally, despite not being a part of the recorded dialogue, I want to give a huge shout-out to the Speaking Easy Podcast’s fantastic producer, Silent Tyler, without whom this would not have been possible.

So, make yourself a drink (and if you’re not in a place to do that, make yourself a mental drink, and enjoy this awesome kick-off episode with the gents from the Speaking Easy Podcast.

This podcast has been on the air for a very brief 3 months at this point. That’s a quarter of a year. A full summer. 90 days. However you want to think about it. To me, that feels like a very short time, but then I pull up the Modern Bar Cart inbox, and I see all the listener-generated questions that have piled up during those three months.

So, this episode is all about you folks--the listeners who make this podcast exciting by sending along your questions and comments. We’re gonna take a virtual field trip through the Modern Bar Cart mailbag today, and we’ll see if I can’t shed some light on some of the most pressing cocktail dilemmas our fans are facing.

In this campy conversation with Reece Sims (@reecesims), creator of Flavor Camp, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How camps - like bars - act as intense and intimate “third places,” where people with shared interests or commonalities can gather and thrive.

• What Reece does to shake up the traditional ruts we fall into when tasting spirits--from the way she sets up the layout of the room, to the way she goes about selecting spirits for any given flight.

• And did you know: Flavor Camp isn’t just the name of the program; it’s an organizing paradigm that Reece deploys that both SIMPLIFIES the typical flavor wheels we often see used in spirits tastings, and also EXPLODES the restrictions implied by traditional spirits categories.

• We also talk about how to navigate the “personal” and the “public” when generating tasting notes. How do you take something that tastes like a certain thing to YOU--like grandma’s kitchen, or the woods after a rain--and figure out how to communicate that very unique flavor to other people who may not share your experiences.

• Finally, we talk about the notion of the “Head-Fake” in the spirits and cocktail world: which is when you overtly focus on one thing, but that ONE THING teaches you so much more about other components of leading a meaningful life.

• Along the way, we discuss the one booze billboard that triggered me in a major way, how to pair donuts with whiskey, why simple cocktails made with high quality spirits are waaaay better than molecular gastronomy, and much, much more.

Eric continues his two part investigation of the rise of Artificial Intelligence in the cocktail and bar world with special guest Rob Nester, creator of the hit podcast, Drinking with Robots. 

Some of the topics covered include:

• Why AI and human bartenders have some of the same tendencies, especially when it comes to picking base spirits for cocktails.
• The role that "cognitive outsourcing" plays in our lives, and how to think about "outsourcing" certain tasks to artificial intelligence.
• The reason why LLMs can often produce cocktails that are about 90% perfect, but often fall short of actual greatness.
• Some thoughts about how the "intersubjectivity" of flavor is actually a human superpower
• A few mind-boggling statistics about the computing power of the human brain when compared to the supercomputers that run ChatGPT
• And much, much more

This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed, AI and cocktail insights courtesy of Rob Nester, creator of the hit podcast, “Drinking with Robots." This has been a Direct Fire Studios production, copyright 2025!

In this mini episode, we give you a preview of some of the awesome stuff we have planned for you in the second half of 2020.

In this nerdy deep-dive on the craft and science of Super Juice with bartender and cocktail competitor Mike Vander Horn (@cocktail.complex), some of the topics we discuss include:

• What Super Juice is and how it has risen to prominence in both cocktail bar and home bar settings.

• Different ways of formulating super juice, including recipes and methods drawn from Liquid Intelligence, a bartender named Nickle Morris, and a YouTube mixologist called Kevin Kos.

• How to test the flavor of super juice against real citrus, and why this highly-engineered product seems to attract as many skeptics and purists as it does sustainability nerds and flavor geeks.

• Where we stand in the sweeping citrus “movements” or “eras” that have influenced cocktail trends over the past several centuries.

• And the tools and ingredients you’ll need to source if you want to incorporate this versatile new citrus ingredient into your professional or home bar.

• Along the way, we tackle a question from the Discord Community about pH measurements, the best way to foil your bartender nemesis, South Jersey’s new signature cocktail, and much, much more.

In this interview, we sit down with Derek Brown and Bob Yule, co-authors of Spirits, Sugar, Water, Bitters: How the Cocktail Conquered the World. Some of the other topics we cover include:

• How Bob and Derek fused their expertise on opposing sides of the bar to create this book as a tribute to a ten part cocktail seminar series at the National Archives.
• Why and how we experience historical “echoes” in the cocktail world, and how these echoes can help connect us - at least in spirit -  with our tipsy ancestors.
• The importance of names and definitions in the cocktail world- both for the original cocktail and all the variants that spun off through the ages.
• Then, we get a little funky - we talk about what grows on the graves of dead Virginians, who’s about to take a hatchet to Derek’s bar, and the merits of a TGI Friday’s caesar salad.

During this interview, we laugh, and we cry. We daydream about what Edgar Allan Poe liked to drink before he died in a puddle, and then we share our most embarrassing book errors and widely published typos.

In this episode, Eric chats with Chef Matt Finarelli about achieving flavor balance in food and cocktails.

There's a lot of cross-over between cocktails and the culinary arts, and this episode is dedicated to investigating the tools and techniques that span both disciplines.

In this fascinating conversation with Victoria Eady Butler, Master Blender for Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Victoria transitioned from a career in criminal justice fighting organized crime to her role as the Master Blender for Uncle Nearest, where she won back-to-back titles as Master Blender of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
• What happened when she teamed up with historian and Uncle Nearest CEO Fawn Weaver to unearth the living legacy of her great-great grandfather, Nathan “Nearest” Green who was touted during his lifetime as the best distiller in the region.
• The importance of the Lincoln County Process, which is the primary differentiator between Tennessee whiskey and bourbon, and which was perfected by Nearest as a signature production technique.
• Then, of course, we taste Uncle Nearest’s flagship product: 1884 Small Batch whiskey, which won Best American whiskey in 2021.
• We also investigate Victoria’s signature approach to blending, which involves specific techniques to protect her palate and ensure that she addresses the all-important “finish” of the whiskey.
• Along the way, we learn about the deeply important philanthropic work of the Nearest Green Foundation, why Tennessee Whiskey is “Bourbon plus one,” where you can go to drink at the longest bar in the world, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this fascinating deep-dive into the world of cane distillates with Matt Pietrek, author of Modern Caribbean Rum, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Matt and his wife Carrie collaborated to create an 800+ page self-published treatise on the rums of the Caribbean: through strategy, structure, and of course visiting so many of the incredible producers who pour their life into this spirit.
• Then, we get into the weeds on a wide-ranging set of topics related to the classification of rum. And this is really the heart of the book. We talk about:
• The broad-strokes differences between British-style, French-style, and Spanish-style rums
• The impact of colonial history and economics on the timelines and styles that were propagated in different islands and regions
• Why Matt thinks about Rum as a “Meta-category” of spirits that contains multitudes of styles and flavors
• Along the way, we cover the palletized nuances of self-publishing, the four main decision buckets that dictate the kind of rum that a given producer will bottle, the surprising influence of Canadians on overproof rum bottling strength,
• And much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this flavorful conversation with Max Lentz and Eli Breitburg-Smith of the Baltimore Spirits Company, some of the things we discuss include:

• Why brewers make great distillers, and how a dialed in focus on fermentation can enhance the quality of a distilled spirits program.
• How Max and Eli took traditional mezcal distilling methods and adapted them for making smoked fruit brandies that pay homage to the ancient mezcal tradition and the terroir of the Mid-Atlantic.
• What the heck it means when you see “PECHUGA” on a bottle of mezcal – believe me, you won’t want to miss this.
• How to build out your mezcal and amaro collections in a fiscally and environmentally responsible manner
• And much, much more.

During this episode, we sample through Baltimore Spirits Company’s smoked apple brandy and their limited release pechuga-style version, featuring local persimmons, black walnuts and paw-paws. We also nose and taste their three amaro offerings: Szechuan, Coffee, and Fernet.

In this episode, we talk about barrels, which are one of the most important parts of the distilling, aging, and blending process. No barrels, no brown spirits. Let that sink in for a minute.

Our guest is Alice Blayne Allard from Free State Cooperage, which is a company that handcrafts locally-sourced barrels right here in the Mid-Atlantic, working with distillers who care deeply about the quality of the barrels they use to age their products.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• The life cycle of a barrel, from tree, to stave, to whiskey vessel, and beyond.
• The physics of aged spirits, and how barrel size, temperature, humidity, and char level all affect the process
• Meditations on the terroir of aged spirits, and how local wood has local flavor
• Some thoughts on barrel aged cocktails
• The not-so-subtle irony of George Washington’s role in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion
• And much, much more

Alice and Free State Cooperage are putting the finishing touches on their facility, and will be offering tours and tastings hopefully sometime in the near future. So definitely hit them up at freestatecooperage.com, or follow them on Facebook to stay abreast of those updates.

In this stirring, ice-cold conversation with bartender and cocktail batcher extraordinaire, Robby Haynes, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What people mean when they say, “Martini,” and why certain preferences and aversions pertaining to its construction may stem from unresolved fears and myths about ingredients.

• How Robby teamed up with distillers, wine-makers, and cocktail experts to weave a flavor tapestry worthy of sitting on the shelf next to the legendary Gold Fashioned.

• What research and development looks like in the gin space, specifically when it comes to nerdy stuff like botanical maceration, gin basket ergonomics, and ethanol proof points.

• Then, of course, we taste the Hoste Martini, and Robby shares recommendations about freezer settings and over-ice service that take this cocktail to the next level.

• Martinis in-hand, we wrap the conversation by examining some of the softer nuances of martini service, like: why cocktail bars are super controlled environments, why hosting a cocktail party can be so unpredictable, and the benevolent tension between host and guest that creates a hospitality interaction.

• Along the way, we get into the latest updates on this year’s batch of the Gold Fashioned, play a rousing game of “Kill, Marry, Fornicate” with iconic Martini trifectas, ponder the mysterious “Vermouth Tipping Point,” and much, much more.

You can learn more about the Gold Fashioned and the new Hoste Martini at hostecocktails.com

In this truly wide-ranging conversation with bartender, spirits maker, and entrepreneur Robby Haynes, creator of the Sunday's Finest Golf Fashioned, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Robby’s rise through the service industry ranks, beginning as a valet standing out in the cold on Chicago winter nights, then eventually manning bars like the legendary Violet Hour.
• What he learned about making cocktails - from carving ice in hotel pans on his first night as a barback to the ways in which mixing a cocktail is like mixing and mastering a record in a recording studio.
• We also chat about his first spirits project: Apologue Liqueurs, which continues to capture rare and often savory flavors like celery root and aronia berry so that professional and home bartenders can jazz up their favorite cocktails.
• Then, of course, we sample and discuss the $150 Sunday’s Finest Gold Fashioned, a product that can be said to truly DEFINE the luxury bottled cocktail category. Robby and I talk about what that means, how it was created, and how to think about a $150 bottle spend, relative to the other costs associated with a night out at your favorite cocktail bar.
• Along the way, we touch on what it means to “nail the center” of a cocktail, how bartenders learn their bar guests’ “love languages,” why you might want to start thinking about cocktails as a “spa experience,” and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this eye opening conversation with Baijiu expert Derek Sandhaus, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What Baijiu is - which might seem like a simple definitions game, but it’s way more interesting than that.
• How Derek came to spend years in China studying the culture and learning as much as possible about Baijiu and the people who make and enjoy it.
• What sort of microbial magic needs to happen in order to produce liquid alcohol from a solid fermentable mash - and to that end, what Baijiu shares in common with other spirits like open fermented Mezcal and dunder-fortified Jamaican rum.
• We talk about two of Derek’s books, Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits and Drunk in China, the most recent of the two.
• We give you a crash course in the most popular styles of Baijiu and the regional cuisines they evolved to complement and then talk about where Baijiu might be heading in the coming years and decades.
• We imagine what it would be like to share a bottle of Baijiu with legendary 8th Chinese drinker and poet Li Bai.
• And much, much more.

Derek is a fascinating guy to interview, and the amount of time he’s spent researching and immersing himself in Chinese culture is a huge asset because the things he shares don’t feel purely academic. They’re based on real things he’s tasted, real places he’s visited, and real people whom he’s learned from.

In this fascinating conversation with Tremaine Atkinson of CH Distillery, manufacturers of Jeppson’s Malört, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Tremaine left his career in finance to jump-start an old dream that once had him peddling kegs of beer in San Francisco - a move that ultimately resulted in the founding of CH Distillery
• The complicated story of Jeppson’s Malört, which began as a DIY Swedish palate cleanser, then had a harrowing, medicinal encounter with Prohibition, took a decades-long detour to the Sunshine State, and finally made a triumphant return to its spiritual home in Chicago.
• Why bitter tastes come with some strange psychological baggage, and why wormwood - specifically Northern European wormwood - is so crucial to the iconic bitterness of Jeppson’s Malört.
• We also delve into some of the more humbling experiences involved with acquiring a legacy brand - like the need to reverse engineer the Malört recipe from scratch and that awkward moment when a room full of bartenders tells you it might taste a little TOO good.
• Along the way, we explore the history of Scandinavian “besk” spirits, the marketing move that had consumers asking, “Is there Malört in that Bourbon?”, why taking shots is sometimes necessary to ensure quality control, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this Episode, Eric sits down with Carlie Steiner of Himitsu, an award-winning cocktail bar and restaurant in Washington, DC.

Some of the things they discuss include:

• Carlie’s journey from under-the-table restaurant worker as a kid to award winning restauranteur in her twenties.
• The most noteworthy cocktails and service experiences she recalls along the way
• A snapshot of her newest project--Himitsu
• The value of travel and openness in cocktail learning
• The correct dilution percentages for an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan
• What to drink at a piano bar with Edith Piaf
• And much, much more

In this spirited discussion with Alain Royer and Henry Preiss of Preiss Imports, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What precisely Izarra liqueur is and the geographic and cultural forces that allowed it to remain more of a regional specialty, while Chartreuse enjoyed wider exposure. 

• How other specialty liqueurs, like Jaegermeister and Luxardo Maraschino, managed to burst the bonds of their relatively “niche” statuses and become heavyweights in the cocktail world.

• The unique culture and flavors of the Basque nation, a people who transcend political and geographic boundaries and holds tenaciously to their own distinct identity even in today’s increasingly remixed and digital world.

• Then, of course, we taste through Izarra’s two flagship offerings: Izarra Verte and Izarra Jaune. We compare and contrast these spirits with their logical Chartreuse analogues and explore the best service methods and use cases for each.

• We wrap up the conversation by reviewing how Henry and his team are rolling out this beautiful duo of alpine liqueurs in liquor stores and bars across the country and give you some insights on how to get your hands on a bottle.

• Along the way, we cover the medicinal underpinnings of our contemporary genepies and amari, the crucial role of the Armagnac region in the production of these Basque spirits, the one Izarra product that didn’t quite survive the test of time, and much, much more.

This is a crossover episode with our friends at the Spirit Guide Society Podcast, led by Pedro Shanahan and based in the Seven Grand whiskey bar in Los Angeles, CA.

This episode is a tasting led by Tomatin brand rep Scott Fraser. The bottles we'll taste through are:

• Tomatin Dualchas
• Tomatin 12 Year
• Tomatin 14 Year
• Tomatin 15 Muscatel
• Tomatin 18
• Cu Bocan
• Tomatin 36

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to the Spirit Guide Society Podcast, available for free wherever you go to download your podcasts.

In this wide-ranging conversation with World’s 50 Best Content Director Mark Sansom, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The myriad ways in which entire segments of the hospitality industry have bounced back from the COVID crisis, as well as the talent- and capital-related symptoms and side-effects that linger on to this day.

• The return of international travel, which dovetails with the launch of The World’s 50 Best Hotels. We dig into specifically how Mark’s organization vets and reviews these venues and what it means to stay at a truly world-class hotel.

• As a sidecar, we also examine the historical and contemporary roles of hotel bars and restaurants - not merely as providing the “board” to the hotel’s “room,” but as engines of profit and innovation that can truly shine with proper investment and human resources.

• All of this, of course, leads us to the question of hospitality in a post-COVID world: what does it mean? And how are the best establishments pushing the envelope. We use the case study of Botanist Bar in Vancouver - winner of this year’s Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award - to illustrate how real hospitality can be an act of natural and cultural ambassadorship.

• Punctuated throughout this chat are the usual tangents that educate and delight, including how Mark tracks the movements of bartenders and beverage directors across time and space, how to think of dehydrators, centrifuges, and rotavaps as “bar infrastructure,” what traditional Thai dish has Mark and me incredibly hot and bothered, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this effervescent and eye-opening conversation with Fever-Tree co-founder and CEO, Tim Warrillow, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The drinks landscape in 2003 when Tim and his partner Charles set out to fundamentally change the way we approach the oft-overlooked and even-more-oft commodified carbonated mixers category.
• Why ingredient sourcing has played a pivotal role in Fever Tree’s rise to cocktail stardom, leading Tim to dodge nail strips and rocket launchers in the search for the world’s purest quinine.
• The symbiotic and dynamic relationship between premium spirits and premium mixers, and why Fever-Tree looks to the world’s best distillers as inspiration for new products and flavor combinations.
• We also talk about Fever-Tree’s new “Easy Mixing” book, which contains over 150 cocktails spanning beloved cocktail categories like the Mule, Highball, Summer Cup, Spritz, and even low- and no-ABV drinks.
• Along the way, we cover why Fever-Tree only comes in glass bottles, how the flavor of Mexican limes depend entirely on the meteor that killed the dinosaurs, what to drink with philanthropist Bill Gates,
• And much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

This exploration of Japanese flavors and aesthetics is part three of a four-part series in which we explore unique cocktail cultures from around the world.

We also chat with Jennifer Bloeser of Oregon Coast Wasabi, who shares her insights about this unique ingredient.

In this continuation of our two-part exploration of spice in the Bloody Mary cocktail, Eric chats with food scientist Sarah Kolk of Silver Spring Foods about the chemistry and sensory biology responsible for our experience of spicy horseradish.

Then, after a super spicy horseradish tasting, we synthesize some of the things we've learned about chemesthesis, benign masochism, and how spice operates like the "motor" of the Bloody Mary cocktail, helping to propel you out of your hangover.

Eric runs down highlights from 2022 by the numbers and recaps some of the big moments from this past year. Then, looking ahead to 2023, he shares what to look out for from The Modern Bar Cart Podcast.

On the back end of the show, 6 bartenders are featured from the McClintock Distilling Holiday Bar Room Blitz, a terrific event that helped us to remember just how great it is to be doing things in person after the pandemic.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this episode, garden designer and cocktail architect Leeann Lavin pulls up a mic to talk garnishes. We give you the low-down on so many different types of garnishes, as well as how to improve your garnish game at home.

And of course, we talk about her upcoming book, Finishing Touches: The Art of Garnishing the Cocktail.

Some of the topics we discuss in this lively conversation with bartender-turned-entrepreneur Effie Panagopoulos include:

• How Effie’s career took her from being an east coast bartender to a west-coast spirits rep for some of the biggest brands in the world and what she learned by watching the cocktail renaissance unfold in San Francisco.
• The way a chance bar visit in Greece transported her back to the flavors of her childhood, reigniting her passion for Mastiha and inspiring her to launch her own brand.
• Some of the ins and outs of designing a formula, including debates about distillate bases, cleaning sticky stills, and navigating the Greek distilling industry.
• Why Mastiha has its own protected geographic designation – which takes us into some interesting geographical and geological rabbit holes pertaining to the isle of Chios, where Mastic resin is harvested.
• How the unique properties of this flavoring agent can also pull double duty in the health and wellness realm.
• Why KLEOS has come to be called “bartender’s olive oil”
• And much, much more

In this inspiring conversation with bartender Mike Vander Horn, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Mike’s personal journey, from his humble origins as a “rum and diet” drinker, to the cocktail competitions that would ultimately lend him the authority to step behind the bar as the head bartender at the newly opened Queen Jayne’s Lounge & Royal Drinkery in Somers Point, NJ.

• The different types of cocktail competitions that exist in today’s world, ranging from the purely digital, to the lavish, “fly-you-into-a-big-city-to-compete” affairs put on by the world’s largest brands.

• Then we walk through his journey at this year’s Diageo World Class US event, where he competed against 29 of the best bartenders in the country without ever having bartended professionally.

• Of course, that leads logically to his latest project over at Queen Jayne’s Lounge, which requires a thorough discourse on the drink culture in South Jersey, which is one of my favorite places, but it’s a little difficult to understand unless you’ve spent a good deal of time there.

• Along the way, we cover the best resources for learning about and entering cocktail competitions, the daunting widowmaker of an event called “the speed round,” how to pronounce Snoop Dogg’s Gin, and much, much more.

This episode is brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this third installment of the "Breaking Bloody" series, we investigate the fifth flavor, umami by way of a hard-to-pronounce Bloody Mary ingredient: Worcestershire sauce.

Guests include:

• Brinda Ayer, the editorial lead at Food52, a digital publication and community platform designed to bring cooks together from all over to exchange recipes and to support each other in the kitchen.
• Kate Quartaro. the founder of Colonel Pabst Worcestershire Sauce, which is a Wisconsin-based company that uses a formula designed by Kate’s great grandfather, Gustave Pabst, the son of Pabst brewery founder Frederick Pabst.
• Cookbook author, food podcaster, and Italofile Katie Parla. She’s here for her expertise in the umami-laden realm of anchovies and fermented fish sauces.
• The talented producer of the "Breaking Bloody" series, Cera Baker

Along the way, we talk about the glutamate molecule, the miracle of fermentation, a fishy conspiracy about the origins story of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, and much, much more.

Some of the topics we discuss with Minimalist Tiki Author and rum ambassador Matt Pietrek Include:

• How Matt tended a rum hobby while working as a software engineer, and then blew that spark of interest into a full-fledged career as a rum author, historian, and consultant.
• Why intellectual honesty and a thirst for verification set great cocktail writing and scholarship apart from the merely good stuff.
• What “minimalist tiki” means - because let’s face it, when you’re looking at a recipe that calls for 8 or more ingredients, there’s not a whole lot of minimalism going on.
• Why the fates and fortunes of rum and tiki are so interconnected in the bar world.
• How Matt used a quantitative approach to laying out the most important tiki ingredients to have at your home bar. (Total software engineer move, by the way…)
• The four levels of improvisation in tiki
• What it’s like to self-publish a book in the age of Amazon and big publisher dominance.
• What to drink when discussing calculus with Sir Isaac Newton.
• And much, much more.

In this episode, we interview WSET certified educator Lara Victoria about one of her passions - sake. Some of the subjects we discuss include:

• How Lara took her childhood passions for food and photography and turned them into a life-sustaining passion.
• What it takes to make Sake - including the many ways it’s different from beer and wine in both its flavor profile and production methods.
• The strange and wonderful world of Koji - a mold - that’s right, you heard me - a mold that transforms rice into a vessel for alcohol.
• The different classifications and quality levels associated with Sake
• Resources for learning about sake, wine, and spirits,
• And much, much more.

Eric examines the ways in which spirits can be identified as either "flawed" or "faulty." Some of the topics covered in this Bar Cart Foundations Episode include:

• The similarities and differences between spirits judging and other judged events (like dog shows)
• Why it helps to compare spirits by category and style in order to really amplify the good and bad attributes
• How to identify potentially dangerous faults in spirits that may be caused by ingredient sourcing, sanitation, or barrel contamination issues.
• How to spot less harmful (but still sub-optimal) spirits flaws and trace them back to a particular moment in the manufacturing process
• Why craft distillers are the most susceptible to producing flawed spirits,
• And much, much more

In this fragrant, vine-ripened deep dive with Birk O’Halloran, creator of Rockwell Vermouth, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Birk worked his way up the supply chain over the years, dabbling first in hospitality education, becoming a sommelier, working in the off-premise world, and eventually launching his own wine and vermouth brands.

• What it means to make an American vermouth, and how that journey incorporated a unique botanical called Artemisia Californica, AKA California Sagebrush.

• Why there’s not a lot of information available about vermouth recipes in the historical literature, and what that meant for Birk’s research and development process.

• Then, we conduct an in-depth tasting of the Rockwell Sweet and dry vermouth. We talk about the uniquely American grape varietal used for the wine base, as well as some of the innovative, solera-aged extracts used to aromatize the end products.

• Along the way, we explore Birk’s multi seasonal approach to his sagebrush sourcing, the implementation of various dried fruit extracts as flavorants, what you can learn when subjecting the world’s most popular vermouth brands to advanced laboratory testing, and much, much more.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

In this craft spirits conversation and tasting with distiller Nate Groenendyk, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How a duo of spirits enthusiasts converted their love for craft spirits into an agricultural and distilling operation that’s pumping out delicious apple brandy and dutch style gin.
• A comparison of Dutch-style gin and London Dry gin, specifically looking at differences in production methods, flavor profiles, and cocktail applications.
• We also really dig deep into all the little choices that each craft distiller must make regarding ingredient sourcing, fermentation, distillation, and maturation that all build upon one another to create the unique fingerprint of each distillery.
• Nate fantasizes about traveling back in time to let his great grandfather in the Netherlands taste his version of Genever.
• Eric asks some typical probing questions about barrels and mash bills.
• And we both sample a little bit of Sangfroid’s delicious Hollands Style gin.

In this globe-trotting, Japanofilic conversation with Awamori champion Jeremy Webb of Webb's Grainworks, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The technical definition of Awamori, especially with respect to how its distillate base, koji treatment, and aging practices differentiate it from Shochu and Japanese Whisky.

• How the history and culture of the Ryukyu Kingdom - a nation separate from the rest of Japan until the late 1800s - impacted how Awamori developed in relation to other traditional Asian spirits.

• The special role that materials like ceramics and stainless steel play in the production and service of Awamori.

• Why Jeremy decided that now is the time to import, blend, and spread the good news of Awamori in the US Market and how his flagship product, Taniguchi Awamori, took home the gold at the 2024 ADI International Spirits Competition.

• And the best ways to enjoy Awamori, both in a spirits-and-food pairing context and as an ingredient in classic and original cocktails.

• Along the way, we explore why Okinawans aren’t impressed by American copper stills, Awamori’s pivotal role in the development of the martial art, Karate, the fun and surprising story behind the name “Taniguchi,” and much, much more.

The object of our investigation this episode is the word, “smooth.” We hear used all the time to describe drinks, and yet, most of us would have a hard time pinning down exactly what it means. Some of the topics we'll cover in this hit piece against the word “smooth” include:

• How and why Eric became suspicious of this word as a descriptor in the spirits and cocktail world
• A brief history of the smooth vs. rough liquor trope since the mid 20th century
• The difference between accuracy and precision in language, and why “smooth” can sometimes be accurate, but never precise.
• A troubling parable involving a major international distilling operation and their recent ad campaign
• Some thoughts on the truth from a major player in the literature and culture space
• And much, much more.

In this conversation with Shanna Farrell, some of the topics we discuss include:

• The Creation of the book Bay Area Cocktails and how Shanna used her experience as a professional interviewer to learn from some of the most impressive names in the cocktail world, including Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich.
• The early history of the cocktail renaissance in the bay area, and how a few sparks kindled the movement into a full-blown community.
• Some thoughts on fern bars - yeah, that’s right, a fern bar is a thing. And we’ll tell you exactly what it is.
• Notes on some of the most influential figures responsible for the cocktail Mecca that San Francisco has become.
• Where to grab a drink with the creator of the Hanky Panky
• And much, much more.

You can pick up Shanna’s book, Bay Area Cocktails, on Amazon and at independent booksellers in the Bay Area and elsewhere. And you can get in touch with her @shanna_farrell on Instagram and Twitter, and by visiting her website: shanna-farrell.com.

In this second episode of our two part chat with Bourbon aficionado Jordan Wicker of the Speaking Easy Podcast, we sample five very different bourbons and discuss some great bourbon cocktails to try at home.

In this really informative chat with Jake Parrott, National Sales Representative for spirits importer Haus Alpenz, some of the topics we cover include:

• How Jake took a hobbyist interest in spirits and turned it into a profession - in essence, the sort of story that a lot of our listeners might find inspiring.
• How Haus Alpenz grew to become one of the foremost champions of spirits and fortified wines that don’t often make it to the US.
• The story of Dolin Vermouth and how it changed the face of the mixed drinks scene at a key moment in the cocktail renaissance.
• Then, we conduct a two-bottle tasting of Haus Alpenz spirits, including Pasubio Vino Amaro and Dolin Genepy.
• We also cover a lot of the ins and outs of the spirits importation and distribution game - including how bottles make their way to the US from abroad and how various regulatory and logistical hurdles are cleared.
• We also talk about the fascinating oxidized and rancio wines from Spain and the south of France, what indispensable tool Jake carries on him at all times when doing demos, and much, much more.